Rubber tire.



G. H. GILLETTE.

RUBBER TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 28, 1910;

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

2 BHBETBSHEET 1.

t." I b I 11 van tor:

George 1 Gillette. flaw 6.11. GILLETTE.

RUBBER TIRE.

. APPLIOATIDII rmm 110v. 2a, 1010.

1,004,642. Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ttet: 13/ Inventory, W by Geo/ye .illeczeb also showing a modification;Fig.

sectional view of another modified form of,

GEORGE H. GILLETTE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RUBBER TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

Application filed November 28, 1910. Serial No. 594,517.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. GILLETTE, at

a citizen of the United States, residin New York, in the county andState of ew York, have invented a new and useful Rubresilient-material,as rubber, and the object of the invention is to provide a the composedof rubber, or suitable resilient material, made in sections and soconstructed and held together that a continuous tire is ,formed out ofthe sections which .will be held together even when not on a vehiclewheel thereby enabling the tire to be handled as any tire molded in acontinuous ring;

A further object is to provide a sectional rubber tire with holdingmeans whereby the several sections when mounted together would form avery resilient, or elastic tire, and n WlllCll either special meanscould be provided to make-the tires yielding in use,

or a pneumatic, tube could be used with the sections. The invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1, is asideelevation of a tire constructed according to my invention; Fig.

is a face view of one of the sections, and a sectional view of theholding means; Fig. 3, is a sectional view, of several sections,'takenon the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, is a view similar to Fig. '3, butshowing the tire adapted to receive apneumatic tube; Fig. 5, is a faceView of one of the sections "wi-thfan open bottom adapted to receive apneumatic tube; Fig. 6, is a face view of a section 40 showing amodified form of construction,

anda sectional view of the holding neans, 1s a construction; and, Fig.8, is a face view of a section showing another modification.

shown in Fig. 1, composed of a plurality of sections 10, which aresubstantially wedgeshaped, each being thicker at the tread, or outer end11,than at the inner end 12, whereby when the sections are securedtogethenin suflicient number to form a tire the tlre formed will be aring if the sections are inaction of the same in the serted withoutcompression, or if the compression is substantially equal from the topto the bottom of each section. In the top, or tread part of each sectionI form a notch, or groove 13, adapted to receive a cable or ring 14, forpurposes hereinafter described, the said groove being preferablyproportioned in size so that when the cable or ring 14, is mountedtherein the rubber of the tire will project above the periphery 15, ofthe ring, so that in use the ring will not contact with the groundunless the rubber be greatly compressed.

In forming the tire I provide a sufiicient number of sections 10, toform a complete circle, which will be slightly less than the requireddiameter of the tire desired. In the grooves 13, of .the severalsections I mount the ring, whichhas preferably been previously formed,although if desired, the ring 14, may be formed, or spliced togetherafter being mounted in the grooves.- After the ring 14, is in place-Iinsert a number of sections 10, bypressing apart in any desired mannerthe sections already in place a sufficient distance to allow theadditional sections to be inserted. In practice I find that if thenumber of sections required to form a ring-shaped tire should be 64',eight additional sections can be inserted in this way to form acompleted tire of the required compression and rigidity;

By inserting the sections as just described, since the sections are allwedge-shaped from top to bottom, the inserted sections will pompress thesections already in place w1th a tendency to force them outward againstthe ring, as the sections arekwedge-shaped and all compressede ually.vThis will serve to place strain on t e rmg 14, and a binding oove 13,so that the sections will now be d in a very firm manner, as will bereadily understood,

whether on a wheel,-or for shipping as an article of manufactureyand inthis way I provide a tire eomposediof separable arts which maybe treatedin practically al respects as an ordinary tire molded in a single piece.At the'same time, Ihave the advantage of being able to remove any partof the tire which may be worn, or have become useless without having tothrow away the entire tire. Then, tooyconstructed in this way, therubber will be compressed to a certain extent which will add to theresistance, or resiliency of the same in use.

As constructed, I may add to the resiliency, or cushioning eflect of thetire in sev-- eral ways. The preferred way is to provide.

each section 10, with a substantially hollow center 16, with a thindiaphragm 17, across one end, which is preferably made hubshaped, asshown in Figs. 3, and 7, so that itwill enter the cavity 16,. in thenextsection when in place, and in this way will serve to center the'sections and also as a support to a certain extent of the walls of thecavity at the open end. Instead of these webs, or'diaphragms '17, I mayform a continuous passageway 18, through the sections 10, as shown inFig. 4, which may be left without any filling contents, and it isevident, also, th t in thisconstruction an air tube, or any esired"filling material may be' a tire will be held together by a cable or ring14, andthe tire may be secured to a wheel bythe flanges 20 as will bereadily understood. This tire, when formed, can be treated in everyrespect as the ordinary pneumatic tire covering is treated.-

In Fig, 6, I have shown another modification in which the section 10 hasa straight,

or substantially straight top 11 and is.pro-' vided with two notches orgrooves 13, in

which aremounted twoholding cables or' rings 14*. It is evident that anynumber of grooves, and a corresponding number of ca-. bles or ringscouldbe-used with any of the forms shown. In Fig. 7, another modifiedform is shown in which the sections 10, are interposed by sections 10,of a length to simply contact with the under side of the cable or ring10$.

In Fig. 8, I have shown a section 10, rectangular in form, and solidthroughout. Such sections with any d esired number of holdingcables orrings 14:, may be used with heavy vehicles as will be readilyunderstood.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a tire composed of sectionswhich can be used as any ordinary tire, while, at the same time, I haveprovided a tire which is easy to form, repair, and interchange, andveiiicient in use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is- 1. A rubber tirecomprising a plurality of sections of resilient material, and anexternally-mounted retaining ring, said tire having a greater number ofsa1d sections than normally required to form a continuous circle of thediameter of said retaining ring whereby the said sections are held inplace in a compressed condition.

2. A rubber tire comprising a plurality of' ,3. In a rubber tire, asection having a substantially-hollow center, and a web, or diaphragmextending across one side of said center. 4

Dated this 26th day of November, 1910.

GEORGE H. GILLETTE.

HAROLD LETH.

